A court in Ankara on Monday announced its verdict that will pave the way for Turkey’s peace academics, who were dismissed from their posts for signing a 2016 petition that called for an end to violence in Turkey’s southeast, to return to their jobs.
The peace petition, signed by 1,128 scholars from 89 Turkish universities, accused the Turkish government of “deliberate massacre and deportation”. The signatories faced the severe response of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and state and higher education authorities in Turkey began launching criminal and administrative investigations against the signatories, charging them with “propagandising for a terrorist organisation”.
Hundreds of peace petitioners lost their jobs after being dismissed by presidential decrees issued under a state of emergency declared in 2016, following a failed coup attempt.
While the terrorism-related charges against those academics have been dropped in time, those dismissed from their jobs still await returning to their universities.
Though some other courts in recent years have ruled in favour of reinstating some peace academics, the decision of Ankara’s 21st Administrative Court, which is known for its milder treatment in such cases, paved the way for all peace petitioners to return to their jobs.
The court ruled in favour of reinstating four academics from Ankara University, whose previous applications to a commission established to review dismissal decisions under the state of emergency were denied. It also issued a violation decision on the reinstatement applications made by many other petitioners, who are willing to return to their posts in academia.
Nail Dertli, one of the reinstated academics, commented on the court’s violation decision, saying, “An unlawful process was carried out from the beginning. Now we will make our application to Ankara University. We demand that the appointment be made as soon as possible.”
